Advantages of std::for_each over for loop

Question

Are there any advantages of `std::for_each` over `for` loop? To me, `std::for_each` only seems to hinder the readability of code. Why do then some coding standards recommend its use?

Accepted Answer

The nice thing with C++11 (previously called C++0x), is that this tiresome debate will be settled.

I mean, no one in their right mind, who wants to iterate over a whole collection, will still use this

```
for(auto it = collection.begin(); it != collection.end() ; ++it)
{
   foo(*it);
}
```

Or this

```
for_each(collection.begin(), collection.end(), [](Element& e)
{
   foo(e);
});
```

when the range-based `for` loop syntax is available:

```
for(Element& e : collection)
{
   foo(e);
}
```

This kind of syntax has been available in Java and C# for some time now, and actually there are way more `foreach` loops than classical `for` loops in every recent Java or C# code I saw.

Advantages of std::for_each over for loop

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